Compare and Contrast Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth

Tien Nguyen
10/01/12
English 102ROUGH DRAFTBack to when the America came to Africa to capture many people over there and enslaved them to serve the high class of the America. That was started everything from the segregation to abolitionists. After about 400 years of slavery and bondage, it was time for descendants of African slaves can reconcile America’s bloody history of human bondage. Many African Americans was standing up and fighting back and Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were known as the first out of so many brave people. Both Douglass and Sojourner just like many other African Americans were born into slavery and experienced many horrible treatments from their masters until they can escape themselves. D.By comparing and contrasting the life and accomplishment of the two ex-slave Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, I am going to analyze their upbringing as well as families broken apart, slavery for men vs. women and activism with historical legacy. From a very young age, Douglass as well as Sojourner never got to know about their age like other White kids or live under their parents’ protection. Douglass’s mother died when he was 10 and as he was described his feeling was not so upset toward her death because of the separation between them. Also, he heard his black-fellow predicted that his father might as well be his father but he never got a chance to find out the truth. On the other hand, Sojourner seemed to have a better relationship with her family. She was one of the 10 or 12 children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree who were slaves. The Baumfree family was enslaved by Colonel Hardenberg in a hilly area. They were together until the death of Charles Hardenbergh, her master; Truth was sold away at an auction. The separation at these early ages causes them to become stronger and grew up because that was the only way to service in that world. Through Douglass’s slavery life, he only had two masters and both of them were not...

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...Question 3
SojournerTruth and FrederickDouglass two inspirational black figures in black history were very atypical from their fellow slaves. Both figures were disrespected then and even more respected today. There were plenty of trial and tribulations throughout their lives but they preserved to become the icons they are today. For many reasons we can see how they are atypical from there fellow slaves and how we should be thankful for our freedom and take advantage of opportunities just like they did.
SojournerTruth, one of the elite black females in women history is atypical of her slaves because her name alone is still being discuss in today’s society. By changing in her name to SojournerTruth, her name alone is atypical from the rest of her fellow slaves. It has tremendous meaning because she felt as one of God’s children her words were very moving, powerful and truthful. Another example is that SojournerTruth stood at 6’0 tall, that’s extremely tall for a woman, and with this height she created a dominant presents. Born a slave, SojournerTruth couldn’t read and write like most slaves, but her strong mindset and her perseverance were acknowledged early. Only a select few of slaves had a heart of a champion, but Truth’s willingness to stand for what she believed in and what was right ultimately...

...literature included newspapers, sermons, speeches and memoirs of slaves. Harriet Beecher Stowe and FrederickDouglass were two abolitionist writers. They were similar in some ways and different in others (“Abolition”).
Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Connecticut in 1811 as the daughter of Reverend Lyman Beecher who was active in the anti-slavery movement. She wrote articles for the newspaper as means to support her family. Harriet saw the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (allowed escaped slaves to be re-enslaved) to be immoral. She was especially upset about how slavery split families apart and she sympathized with slave mothers who lost their children in slavery, because she had lost half of her children. Harriet published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in increments in an anti-slavery paper. Later it was published as a complete volume. This book depicted the life of a slave named Tom who was beaten to death by his cruel master. She wrote this book to show people the reality of slavery and how horrible it was. This book gained anti-slavery sympathy in the North and angered slave owners in the South. President Lincoln referred to her as, “the little women who wrote the book that made this great war” (Kennedy, p. 276).
FrederickDouglass was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818. He worked on a plantation, then as a house servant. The woman of the house where he served went against the law to teach Frederick how to...

...nation we perhaps will be one day. It takes the acknowledgement and courage of people to bring about a change in society from what was known to what will be. Such a humanitarian hero was SojournerTruth.
Truth, Sojourner (1797-1883) was born a slave in Hurley, New York City; SojournerTruth was originally called Isabella Van Wagner. She gained her freedom in 1827, after most of her thirteen children had been sold. She took the name "SojournerTruth" in 1843 after having a vision. In 1836, Truth became the first Black to win a slander action against whites. Born Isabella Baumfree circa 1797, SojournerTruth was one of as many as 12 children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree in the town of Swartekill, in Ulster County, New York. Truth's date of birth was not recorded, as was typical of children born into slavery. Historians estimate that she was likely born around 1787. Her father, James Baumfree, was a slave captured in modern-day Ghana; Elizabeth Baumfree, also known as Mau-Mau Bet, was the daughter of slaves from Guinea. The Baumfree family was owned by Colonel Hardenbergh, and lived at the colonel's estate in Esopus, New York, 95 miles north of New York City. The area had once been under Dutch control, and both the Baumfrees and the Hardenbaughs spoke Dutch in their daily lives.1
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...﻿Jessica Armstrong
Mrs. Baker
English III – H
9 April 2014
The Truth About Sojourner
Thesis: Sojourner Truth’s impact shined though her speeches and punishment, and it was widespread through her life and journeys.
Impact
Hardships
First to win court cases
Speeches and Punishment
Why she started speaking
How she was criticized for her speeches
Life and Journeys
Her dream for women's rights
Significant people Sojourner met
Jessica Armstrong
Mrs. Baker
English III – H
9 April 2014
The Truth About Sojourner
"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!" Sojournertruth said this in her most famous speech, "Ain't I A Woman?" ("Address" 159). SojournerTruth, a powerful and influential woman, was well-known for her strong speeches about slavery and women's rights. She was born into slavery, and she endured a challenging childhood as a slave. She was a slave for many years, until she escaped. After she escaped from slavery, she moved all around the country. She was a very religious woman, and she was searching for people that she could safely live with and relate to. She met many people and learned many new things from them. She worked as a domestic servant until she got a...

...does not receive enough credit is SojournerTruth, a black woman who lived during the nineteenth century. SojournerTruth made a difference in the world through the obstacles that she had to overcome in her life and her work as an abolitionist and a woman’s rights activist. A brief look at her history, protest and reasons will give a better understanding of her difference in the world.
SojournerTruth was born under the name Isabella Baum-free sometime during the year 1797, the exact date remains unknown (Butler, 3). She was born into slavery in the town of Esopus, New York. She was frequently traded between owners, and Truth later recalled many of them to be “cruel and harsh” (Krass 10). In 1815, Truth met a slave on a neighboring farm named Robert. She fell in love with Robert, but Robert’s owner forbade the relationship. She was instead forced to marry an older slave, with whom she had five children: Diana, Thomas, Peter, Elizabeth, and Sophia (Krass 15). Truth finally gained her freedom from slavery in 1826 when she was emancipated by the state of New York (Roop 22). However, she was only able to take her youngest daughter Sophia with her. This is because the New York emancipation laws stated that her other children had to remain in slavery until their twenties (Roop 23). After escaping, she found her way to the home of Isaac and Maria Van...

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FrederickDouglass and Sherman Alexie both grew up in different times and environments. FrederickDouglass was born in 1818 and was raised on a plantation as a slave, Alexie was born in 1966 and was raised on an Indian reservation, but being raised in different worlds didn’t make either of their struggles any different or easier than the others. They both faced judgment and discrimination against their races. Due to their different races they were both considered stupid, illiterate, and were thought to doing nothing with their lives besides working on a plantation or becoming an alcoholic and drug addict. Getting out of those types of environments and doing better things than what they were thought to do was just one of the many things that motivated them into getting an education.
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Isabella Baumfree, commonly known as SojournerTruth was recognized being an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. She became the first black woman to win a case against a white man. During the Civil War, she helped recruit black troops for the Union Army. After the Civil War, she tried to secure land grants from the federal government for former slaves. She was mostly successful on her speeches based on gender inequalities and social injustice.
SojournerTruth was born into slavery, her father was captured into slavery from Ghana and her mother was a child of enslaved parents as well. They were brought to America and held in Swartekill (Rifton) New York. At the age of 9 she only spoke Dutch. She was sold numerous times to different slave owners in New York. She finally escaped in 1826 from her last owner John Dumont.
SojournerTruth practiced and changed her religions she became a Christian and then became a Methodist. She then started to preach about the abolition of slavery. She also converted Millerite Adventist. Truth joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in 1844, she and fellow abolitionists all supported women’s rights, religious tolerance and pacifism.
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...Narrative of the Life of FrederickDouglass
Illiteracy was an instrumental tool used to deprive slaves in an attempt to keep them ignorant and manageable during the 1800's. If slaves were to learn how to read, they could in turn be educated. The oppressing class during this time period realized that if slaves were able to become educated they could no longer be useful, for it would be increasingly difficult to exploit their services. The ability to read was the white man's power over slaves. Douglass, realizing the situation of his enslavement, took advantage of his privileges and began to secretly learn how to read and write. As he become more proficient in English, Douglass began to gain a following of slaves who were willing to learn. He used his knowledge to covertly conduct a school where he would teach other slaves the alphabet and numbers. The experience of teaching others brought tremendous joy to Douglass who felt he was providing a better opportunity to his fellow slaves.
FrederickDouglass is an exemplary example of why literacy was such a guarded commodity during the 1800's. When Douglass went to live with the Auld family, the mistress Mrs. Auld had never before owned a slave. Her behavior towards Douglass was differentkinder, and she even began to teach him the alphabet. When her husband, Mr. Auld, found out of her actions she was...